How to make a traditional daiquiri

Repeat after us: Classic. Daiquiris. Are. Not. Frozen. We understand the allure of a frozen treat, but the daiquiri could be considered one of the most used and abused cocktails out there.

If you find that surprising, then follow us through a little daiquiri history, uh, appreciation – there’s a recipe at the end.

The daiquiri is considerably iconic, passing through the lips of JFK, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway and the likes. However, its roots go further back than even Hemingway. This beloved libation first came into fruition during the Spanish-American War in 1898 after a nasty outbreak of yellow fever (

There’s also a story that at a party, Cox ran out of gin and so used rum to make cocktails instead. A statement released from a veteran named Pagliuchi, stated, “On the sideboard of the mine’s dining room, there was no gin or vermouth; all we could find was Bacardi rum, limes, sugar and ice. With this material, Mr. Cox made up a cocktail, which was so shaken as to be very cold. It tasted fine, and I asked Cox, ‘What are you going to call it?’ ‘Tum Sour,’ he said. I answered him, ‘This is too long a name; it was invented at Daiquiri, so why not call it ‘Daiquiri’?”

Spreading out of the town of Daiquiri, the cocktail inundated the country and then finally came to America for conquering. The year was 1908, when a U.S. Navy medical officer brought the recipe to Washington, D.C. setting it up for mass adoration up through the 1960s.

The 60s brought variations of the daiquiri, but the foundation remained: rum, lime, sugar, ice.

A few tips; avoid simple syrup in this cocktail. Since it’s only three ingredients, each one shows, and the syrup muddies the crisp profile that this drink is supposed to have. Brown sugar or turbinado sugar take a molasses like vibe and are too rich for the zippy flavors of lime. Mixing classic cane sugar into the lime juice before hand is the easiest and tastiest way to maximize this drink!

Here is the classic:

2 oz Cayman Reef White Rum

1 ½ oz fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons sugar

Mix sugar into lime juice until dissolved. Pour rum and sweetened lime juice into a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.